An hour later, Ezra felt something cold and wet on his forehead and slowly opened his eyes. His throat felt so dry that he gasped for breath and soon started coughing. “Wha…what happened?” Ezra questioned in a feeble voice as he faintly made out the blurry outline of an elderly man standing over him. “You expended all your strength and magic power during the fight. It caused severe contractions within your body and weakened your immunity, hence the fever,” a familiar voice replied. Ezra tried to get up, but he was still too weak to stand up on his own, so the man beside him propped him up with a pillow. As Ezra’s vision slowly cleared, he squeezed the tears from his eyes and wiped his face clean with his kerchief. “I think you should stay the night. Your body is in pretty bad shape.” Hearing the man’s voice, Ezra turned his head to look at him. He thought it was Glenn, but the man looked far younger than the old collector. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you with thos
In another part of town, Aurelia had met up with the miners’ guild, which comprised mostly of able-bodied dwarven adults and their pet mole rats. Since Aurelia used to visit the mines quite often for inspection, most of the old miners were well-acquainted with her. So, instead of treating her as an outsider, they welcomed her as one of their own. However, things at the mine weren’t looking too good for the dwarves. There was news of trouble brewing in Kasari, the largest coal mine in Aranor. And the problem was so great that it had forced the miners to stop working and abandon the mine altogether. Currently, Aurelia was in the guild’s meeting room, carefully studying the layout of the coal mine, which was drawn on a piece of brown paper. The dwarves standing around her looked vexed and were constantly grumbling among themselves. “Keep it down, men! You’re distracting, Lady Aurelia!” the chief of the miners’ guild thundered, silencing his comrades. Although he was only four feet ta
The firearms merchant from the Eastern Province of Wazanjho had rented a small store on the southwestern side of town, in a secluded part of the mercantile area. As Ezra and his companion approached the store, a gruff-looking guard stopped them. “The store’s not open yet. Come back next week.” “We were sent by Mr. Yarpin Dale,” the assistant replied. “I believe Mr. Lee would not mind entertaining a guest for a while.” The firearms merchant, a scrawny-looking man sporting a long gray beard and pencil mustache peeped out of the store’s window and asked, “What does your guest want with me?” “He wishes to browse your wares, of course,” the attendant replied. Stepping aside, he introduced, “This is Lord Ezra, the youngest son of Lord Sebastian Romanov. I am sure he will be able to compensate you adequately for your troubles, Mr. Lee.” The merchant stared at Ezra, scanning him from head to toe before turning to his companion. “And what do you want?” “Nothing. I was just sent here to in
Ezra was quite happy with his purchase although the price seemed a bit steep. However, his thoughts were still drifting toward the enchanted weapons the merchant was so unwilling to sell. “You said the enchanted firearms you have are a gift for someone. Mind telling me who they’re for?” Ezra enquired, expecting the merchant to loosen his tongue now that he had become a paying customer. Kung Lee however frowned at this question. “That is none of your business, young one. If you’re done shopping, you may leave.” “Your arrogance will come back to bite you someday. I am Lord Ezra Romanov, and you are a foreigner in Aranor,” Ezra stated, staring daggers at the merchant. “I have the protection of the merchants’ guild, and you are not the only noble who is interested in my wares,” Kung Lee replied with an air of condescension. “I only decided to entertain you because you were a guest of Mr. Yarpin, but I really detest your company. Now leave before I get sick of staring at your deformed f
The siblings studied the map one last time and discussed their strategy with Ivan before exiting the miners’ guild and heading for the Kasari coal mine. Since the mine was located far from the residential areas, the news of the monster attacks hadn’t spread across Aranor. However, the recent death of one of the miners had already been reported to the town guards. “We have to kill the monster before the guards show up, or they will ruin everything,” Aurelia said as they neared the mine entrance. “I’ll prepare the bait. Take your time and double-check your weapons and items,” she said, turning to Ezra. While Aurelia worked on the straw dummy, Ezra swiped up to access his inventory and check the items he had on him. [Inventory:] [Weapons available:] [1. Rodel Gray-back six-shot revolver (enchanted).] [2. Larkin and Hops five-shot compact revolver (basic).] ..... [Potions available:] [1. Greater magic restoration potions (10).] [2. Greater healing potions (9).] [3. Solaris Vit
As Ezra peeked around the corner and fixed his eyes on the monster, his system panel flickered into life, highlighting a new objective. [New shooting objective acquired: Kill the Heragore without taking any damage.] Ezra watched as the Heragore pinned the straw dummy to the ground and started ripping out its innards using its razor-sharp claws. The monster voraciously devoured the raw sausages stuffed inside the dummy, paying no heed to its surroundings. “It’s distracted. Now’s our chance!” Aurelia vaulted over the mining cart and fired her weapon. The magic bullet struck the Heragore in the head, putting out one of its eyes. As blood trickled down its wounded face, the Heragore shrieked in pain and backed away from the dummy. Ezra quickly sprung out of cover and fired at the monster before it could make a move. However, all the magic bullets fired from his Larkin and Hops five-shot revolver missed the target as his hand swayed from side to side. Ezra’s trembling fingers made it
Ezra breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed the grip on his revolver. Shoving his enchanted weapon back inside his jacket, he walked up to the Heragore to confirm it was actually dead. Suddenly, a floating blue disc appeared in front of Ezra, and the pupil of his left eye widened, allowing him to view a magnified version of the disc. [New magic skill unlocked:] [1. Eagle Eye (level 1) (passive): Whenever the user encounters any hostile creature, the Eagle Eye skill allows him to analyze the enemy and learn more about it. This skill does not drain magic power and can be used multiple times without any penalties.] “That seems like a useful skill to have. I guess I am finally unlocking my true potential as an E-level shooter,” Ezra spoke to himself, but Marlin could not help but overhear it. “A bit hard to believe, isn’t it?” the Gunsmith taunted. “Who would have thought you could take on a Heragore all by yourself?” “I didn’t do it alone. Now just go away.” Ezra rushed to Aurelia’s
Ramel had already returned home in the evening with a positive reply from the adventurers’ guild. And seeing that his siblings hadn’t come back yet, he had even insisted on going out to look for them, but Lord Sebastian had denied his request. This little victory had pleased Ramel immensely. He was now thoroughly under the impression that he was the best when it came to political negotiations and forging alliances. Lord Sebastian however, knew that nothing could be further from the truth. Having thanked his son, he had sent him off to his room so that he could spend the rest of the night freely. When Ezra and Aurelia finally returned it was already past nine. Lord Sebastian was pacing the hallway when he saw Aurelia entering with something hanging from her hand. “What took you so long? And what is that thing you’re—” Lord Sebastian stopped midway as Aurelia placed the Heragore’s severed head on the wooden table. “This one was hiding in the Kasari mine, so we decided to help the mi